New York Jets fans have many problems with the NFL Top 100 list. From ranking Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams too low to leaving Breece Hall off altogether, the usual questionable decisions show up. The ranking often proves how little NFL players know about each other and how much they go based on reputation or Madden stats rather than film study.
A different NFL player was angry about his ranking — or lack thereof — and took to the media to express his displeasure. In doing so, he threw some shade at Aaron Rodgers.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a member of the Chicago Bears: first-team All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
#Bears All-Pro CB Jaylon Johnson on being left off the NFL's Top 100 list:
"It's bull****. There ain't no way … Aaron Rodgers didn't even play in the season and he was voted. … It's disrespectful."
(🎥 @dave_bfr)pic.twitter.com/rpQuCuIE7d
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 4, 2024
To be fair, Johnson has multiple good points. He allowed the fewest total yards (195), yards per cover snap (0.368), yards per reception (7.8), and yards per target (3.9) among all qualified cornerbacks. He earned a four-year, $76 million deal off that season, a $19 million APY that ranks ninth among all cornerbacks.
Additionally, his beef about Rodgers calls into question the methodology of the list in the first place. Is it supposed to be about the previous season’s performance? Projections for the next season’s performance? A popularity contest based on which players have the best reputations for the longest?
If it’s based on one season, then Johnson is right: Rodgers did not play in 2023, while he was a first-team All-Pro. Even if it’s about projection for next year, Johnson should rank right up there with the league’s best corners. Johnson is only 25 years old, while Rodgers is 40.
It’s hard to take too much exception to what Johnson said. The whole ranking system is a joke. Bringing Rodgers into the equation was an unnecessary swipe, but the fact remains that Johnson was as bad a snub as any from the Top 100 list.
